WTKA Roundtable 5/7/2026: Go Be Great

WTKA Roundtable 5/7/2026: Go Be Great

(No Brian today)    Things Discussed: * Dusty: Are the Magic a threat? * Is the NBA a threat? Eventually. If they come at him like the Chargers came at Harbaugh, but May isn't there, has zero indication he wants to leave now. * Sam shares how the whole Juke Harris thing went down. Shares Xavier Stanton was coming to Michigan at one point. * Michigan's admissions policy: Get the best. Standing on 60 credits as THE LINE between academics and not. * During break: Skyler Bell's recruitment relived. He was right to stay at UConn. * Bryce concern: Overblown. Spring game was hardly representative. Some concern, though, because it's important to develop him and he looked like he lost a year of development. * Passing game needs to be better. If he's not a better passer they're doomed in 2027.

WTKA Roundtable 4/30/2026: Never Made a Bracket

Things Discussed: * Jalen Reed, longer and switchable. * Thiam: Shot selection is abominable. He's mobile, not fully a switch guy, can hedge. Offensively intriguing, takes fadeaways but was 48% away from the rim. VERY strong—gave as good as he got against Krivas—but didn't post up very much. His left hook looks more natural than his right hook. Closer to switchable than Mara. * Craig: four guys on the roster not playing. * Reed: Think as the season progresses he is going to make a difference, because he can give you a lot of different things. A 6-10 guy who can guard guards: yes please! * JP Estrella: Noticeably positive impact as an offensive rebounder on the #1 OReb team when he was rotating with offensive linemen. * Sam wants Trey to watch Late Michael Jordan the post player, which will make him more dynamic in the mid-range. * Cadeau is the guy who gets you good shots, McKenney is the guy who makes your bad shots. * Swing guy: McCoy. Shooting is questionable but instantly project him to a Roddy role. Gets downhill, has that wingspan. Could be the starting three: Yaxel-like ability to guard up and down the roster. * Ceiling? If Reed can be healthy for a season they're another 1-seed, otherwise 3-seed? Think other basketball teams have gotten much better. * Quinn Costello: Year as a bench shooter, needs that year to learn to play defense. * This is the least popular idea in sports history. NOBODY likes it except the major conference commissioners who've never filled out a bracket in their lives. * Hockey: no updates, except Denver picked up a defenseman. Michigan preseason #1 likely, except voters just vote the order of last year's F4. There will be guys on the 4th line who are like 3rd round+ picks. * Cockamamie ideas for renovating Yost.

Michigan HockeyCast 8.26: Super Reload

1 Hour and 15 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul [http://www.michiganlawgrad.com/] is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Enjoy your retirement, Anže Kopitar. Kopitar was one of the most consistent and underrated players of his era. The Avs swept the Kings but lets recap some closer NHL matchups (NOT Sabres vs Bruins). The Oilers are underperforming with their star power, there are some fundamental issues within the program. Anyways, who's back for Michigan? Is Hage the favorite for the Hobey Baker award? There will be so much talent and you hope everyone can find their own niche because there's only one puck. Perron's still on the spreadsheet until he isn't. Garrett Schiftsky is going to be a dude going into next year. Slot Cole McKinney in as your 4th line center. Jack Nesbitt and Cameron Reid are coming in from the OHL. Expect JP Hurlbert to come in from the WHL. All four lines have depth and competition opportunities.    Segment 2 Projecting the 2026-2027 defensive roster. Need Henry Mews to take on a huge role, but can he be an elite defenseman? Ben Robertson, Asher Barnett, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, and Drew Schock will give the team an unusually high amount of depth. Michigan might add one or two more players on defense to round out the roster. Expect Jack Ivankovic to remain the starter at goalie but Stephen Peck has at least earned some starts. This team should be stacked going into next season, but this time with more maturity.    MUSIC * NHL on ESPN Theme * "We'll Meet Again" -- Vera Lynn * Ice Hockey (NES) theme

WTKA Roundtable 4/23/2026: Listen to Me Now and Believe Me Later

Things Discussed: * Spring Game standouts: Hiter obviously. Buchanan, Tatum looks like a safety, Patterson, Edokpayi, and Palepale. * Concern about Bryce? Nah, the situation was not conducive to seeing what Bryce can do; if you play Cov2 back all day for real we'll run like 2021 Washington. It was a better situation to show off what Carr can do. * QB run game: rehash last year's issues: tactically it was there; strategically they hadn't run it so they screwed it up). * Hoops transfers: Juke Harris or John Blackwell? For this team: Harris. Needs work on defense but Juke makes his own shots. Craig: how do the pieces fit together? Craig thinks Juke is a three. * Is he coming? Sam was close to a gut feeling, but why have things dragged out? NIL numbers? Tennessee numbers embellished. Is it a bidding war? Don't know. * Sam thinks Liburd is good enough that they don't need all their eggs in that basket. * Thiam? Going against Pitino for him so that's big boy battle. * Rez: Opt-outs might be moving him up the Draft; the Florida guys coming back has bumped him. If he's in the teens he's in the Draft for sure. * Landon DuPont: first-ever status (can play younger) player in CHL, #1 overall potential, Denver/Michigan battle. * Michigan hockey summer: Hage is coming back.

Michigan HockeyCast 8.25: Apple, Banana, Caffeine

1 Hour and 37 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul [http://www.michiganlawgrad.com/] is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Which NHL match-up are you most excited for? Ottawa vs Carolina is intriguing. Avs vs Kings will probably be non-competitive and un-watchable.  Evaluating the offense: TJ Hughes - Hobey Baker level season.  Jayden Perron - Dramatically exceeded expectations. Led the team offensively in the post-season.  Nick Moldenhauer - Previously minimal production, huge breakout season. Michael Hage - High-end playmaker, season cut short due to injury.  Malcolm Spence - Up-and-down freshman season, started hot.  Adam Valentini - Limited in size but played a bigger role as the season progressed. Cole McKinney - Strong in faceoffs but underwhelming offensive production.  Will Horkoff - Highly productive, highly streaky.  Aidan Park - Depth freshman, lacked consistent impact. Keenan Draper - Praised for role mastery, leadership, and penalty-kill value. Josh Earnesty - Depth player who improved on offense and defense. Kayson Musket - Exceeded expectation in limited minutes.  Teddy Spitznagel - No meaningful playing time before leaving the program.   Segment 2 Evaluating the defense and goalies: Luca Fantilli - Unexpected breakout senior year. Became a reliable leader. Tyler Duke - High effort and physical despite his size. Took too many penalties. Ben Robertson - Dependable, steady presence on the blue line. Garrett Shifsky - Elevated his game late in the season, gets a special shout out. Drew Schock - Limited as a freshman, grew throughout the season. Dakota Raemel - Inconsistent with turnovers. Asher Barnett - Excellent as a freshman. Everyone else didn't contribute enough to get a fair grade. Jack Ivankovic - Delivered high-level all season when not hurt. Steven Peck - Exceeded expectations as a backup.   MUSIC * NHL on ESPN Theme * "One Thing Leads To Another" -- The Fixx * Ice Hockey (NES) theme